What Are Rose Cut Diamonds? All You Need To Know!

A cut made popular in the Georgian Era (the 1700s), Rose cut diamonds have remerged as an ethereal, antique-inspired alternative to more traditional diamond cuts. How to spot them? Rose Cut diamonds have a domed top and a flat base. And much like the sprawling petals of a fully bloomed rose, the peaked top is covered in distinctive triangle facets.

Rose Cut Diamonds vs. Brilliant Cut Diamonds

Brilliant cut diamonds are what you commonly see in most jewelry showrooms – they’re incredibly sparkly, light-reflecting, and fairly consistent in terms of how they’re cut. Rose cut diamonds on the other hand, are much less common, with more variety, and are more luminous than sparkly. The main differences you’ll find between the two:

Number of Facets

Brilliant cut diamonds, cut to maximize ‘brilliance’ (white light reflection), are universally created with 57 to 58 facets. Rose cuts on the other hand, historically cut to sparkle under candlelight, because the cut was invented 100s of years ago before electricity.

To achieve this they have more variation between cuts and can contain anywhere from 3 to 24 facets.

Flat Bottom vs Peaked Bottom

Traditional brilliant diamonds are cut for maximum sparkle – the peaked bottom is designed to reflect captured light back towards the spectator for a blinding sparkle. In contrast, Rose cut diamonds allow light to move through the stone, resulting in a more transparent glow and subtle shine.

Without the pointed pavilion of traditional brilliant diamonds, rose cut diamonds sit closer to the skin than their taller counterparts.

Larger looking diamond

Contrary to popular belief, the ‘carat’ of a diamond refers to its weight, not it’s size. So, since rose cut diamonds have eliminated the pointed bottom section, all their carat weight shows on the top face. The result: a larger looking diamond.

What this means: if you put a 1.00 carat rose cut diamond beside a 1.00 carat brilliant cut diamond, the rose cut diamond would appear larger.

More diamond for your dollar

Because of this re-proportioned carat weight, you get more visible diamond for your dollar. Example: a 1.00 carat brilliant cut diamond measures 6.5 mm from the top view, whereas a 1.00 carat rose cut diamond measures approximately 7.5m mm.

More shape variation

Because of their flat base, rose cut diamonds can be cut into countless different shapes - round, oval, pear, kite, hexagon, square, and rounded square. And because of their customizable facet arrangements, rose cut diamonds can also be cut into random and irregular shapes.

Noticeably unique

While brilliant cut diamonds are undeniably stunning in their sparkle, rose cut diamonds are truly eye-catching in their uniqueness. Though they’re gaining popularity, rose cuts are still relatively rare as compared to brilliant cut diamonds.

Luster over sparkle

While many people use these terms interchangeably, ‘cut’ and ‘shape’ mean very different things! Diamond shape refers to the stone outline (rectangular, round, pear-shaped) whereas cut relates to less obvious elements like proportion, facets, and polish.

So, even though diamond shapes have names like princess cut, emerald cut, round cut, and pear cut, those names are still referring to diamond shapes, not diamond cut. Not confusing at all, right!

Rose cut diamonds are known for their shape versatility – you can find them in round, oval, pear, kite, hexagon, square, and rounded square shapes.

‘Color’ refers to how white or colorless a diamond appears. It’s graded from D (most colorless) to Z (noticeable brown or yellow tint) by the GIA.

Whereas brilliant diamonds look best in higher color grades, rose cut diamonds are more versatile when it comes to color. If there was a ‘C’ to compromise on with rose cut, color is it. With their domed top and subtle shine, this cut complements warmer tones and alternative colors beautifully. Grey, champagne, opaque white, salt & pepper, black, and yellow tones just add to this cut’s otherworldly antique appeal.

And of course if you love a bright white diamond, that rose cut will be tantalizingly transparent and gorgeously icy.

Rose cut also goes great with fancy colored diamonds (blue, pink, red, yellow, green diamonds). The cut highlights the diamond’s color without the distraction of intense light reflection that comes with a brilliant cut diamond.

Clarity

‘Clarity’ refers to the level of blemishes or inclusions in the diamond. The GIA rates diamond clarity from FL (flawless) to I3 (noticeable inclusions to the naked eye).

Clarity is important to consider when it comes to rose cut diamonds. Inclusions and blemishes are very noticeable because of the transparency, high dome, and larger flatter facets of these stones – you can usually see all the way through.

So, if you’re looking for a totally transparent rose cut diamond, definitely invest in a higher clarity grade. However, if you love the aesthetic of vintage and antique jewelry (we’re with you!), then inclusions and imperfections just bring more character and personality to your stone.

In the end, it all comes down to your own personal style and which stones stir up your soul!